Learning C++ and/or C

[Mantorok]

Hi all

I'm looking to learn C and/or C++ and I was wondering if there were any good
on-line resources and books.

I am currently a C# developer but I'm keen to discover C/C++ as I feel it
would be a benficial experience.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Kev

[ravinderthakur]

hi kev,

there is one good book for the begineers viz thinking in c/ thinking in
c++ by
bruce eckel.

the same can be found at
http://mindview.net/Books/TICPP/Thin...loadingTheBook

thanks

[Fao, Sean]

Mantorok wrote:

Hi all

I'm looking to learn C and/or C++ and I was wondering if there were any good
on-line resources and books.

Firstly, I would highly recommend against anything online because I've
yet to come across anything even remotely close to the level of quality
of the books I'm about to recommend.

Personally, I think it's wise to start by learning C and then taking on
C++. The reason is that I don't know how anybody could possibly be a
good C++ programmer without knowing C. I believe that by attempting to
learn C++ first, it could become overwhelming because of the complexity
that OOP adds. I believe this argument still has strong grounds even if
you already know another object oriented language, such as C# because
you will more then likely have to overcome a learning curve with
pointers and such.

On that note, I highly recommend:

- The C Programming Language (2nd Edition) written by Brian W. Kernighan
and Dennis Ritchie.

- The C++ Programming Language (Special 3rd Edition) written by Bjarne
Stroustrup.

- Accelerated C++ written by Andrew Koenig and Barbara E. Moo.

The first book should keep you busy for a little while. After you've
mastered that, I think the next two books should be read together.
Accelerated C++ will get you up and running quickly while The C++
Programming Language can give you a more in-depth understanding when you
want/need it. In fact, those two C++ books were recommended to me when
I first started learning C++ a few years ago.

Good luck,

--
Sean

[Mantorok]

"Fao, Sean" <en**********@yahoo.comI-WANT-NO-SPAM> wrote in message
news:kj**************@news.abs.net...

Mantorok wrote:

Hi all

I'm looking to learn C and/or C++ and I was wondering if there were any
good on-line resources and books.

Firstly, I would highly recommend against anything online because I've yet
to come across anything even remotely close to the level of quality of the
books I'm about to recommend.

Personally, I think it's wise to start by learning C and then taking on
C++. The reason is that I don't know how anybody could possibly be a good
C++ programmer without knowing C. I believe that by attempting to learn
C++ first, it could become overwhelming because of the complexity that OOP
adds. I believe this argument still has strong grounds even if you
already know another object oriented language, such as C# because you will
more then likely have to overcome a learning curve with pointers and such.

On that note, I highly recommend:

- The C Programming Language (2nd Edition) written by Brian W. Kernighan
and Dennis Ritchie.

- The C++ Programming Language (Special 3rd Edition) written by Bjarne
Stroustrup.

- Accelerated C++ written by Andrew Koenig and Barbara E. Moo.

The first book should keep you busy for a little while. After you've
mastered that, I think the next two books should be read together.
Accelerated C++ will get you up and running quickly while The C++
Programming Language can give you a more in-depth understanding when you
want/need it. In fact, those two C++ books were recommended to me when I
first started learning C++ a few years ago.

Good luck,

Thanks, I've heard that it is also likely to take 2-3 years to become
comfortable with the language, from the offset I can see why that would be
so, how long did it take for you pick up C/C++?

Kev

[Mantorok]

<ra************@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@g49g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

hi kev,

there is one good book for the begineers viz thinking in c/ thinking in
c++ by
bruce eckel.

the same can be found at
http://mindview.net/Books/TICPP/Thin...loadingTheBook

thanks

Thanks for the recommendation.

Kev

[Mantorok]

Also, any recommended compilers too?

Thanks
Kev
"Mantorok" <no**@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message
news:dc**********@newsfeed.th.ifl.net...

Hi all

I'm looking to learn C and/or C++ and I was wondering if there were any
good on-line resources and books.

I am currently a C# developer but I'm keen to discover C/C++ as I feel it
would be a benficial experience.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Kev

[__PPS__]

Personally for me it took around 4-6 month from the day when I new
nothing about c/c++ till I was very comfortable with it. It's been 1.5
since I started to study c++ and I love it!!

[Fao, Sean]

Mantorok wrote:

Thanks, I've heard that it is also likely to take 2-3 years to become
comfortable with the language, from the offset I can see why that would be
so, how long did it take for you pick up C/C++?

I took C in college, which helped a LOT because it forced me to work on
assignments I probably would have otherwise skipped over. Additionally,
the instructor was always available to provide me with feedback and to
make suggestions. It was amazing how many optimizations I could make to
my code that I would have otherwise overlooked. With the help of an
instructor, I felt comfortable programming in C within the first six
months. But my learning certainly didn't end there.

As far as C++ goes, I actually taught myself and I picked up my first
set of C++ books (the two I recommended you) back in the spring of 2003.
As of now, I'm comfortable writing object oriented software; but, I
feel like I still have a long way to go before I'd actually consider
myself a *good* C++ programmer. It's not really that the language is
all that difficult to learn; it's just that there are so many different
ways to do things that I believe it could take years to learn how to do
things optimally. Basically, I feel like I'm doing well until I see
some of the posts from the guys here. It's obvious that a few of them
have had quite a lot of experience in C++. My biggest downfall in
learning C++ is that I rarely program in it because my job revolves
around other languages. My plan is to take C++ in college in hopes that
I'll have the same kind of experience that I did while learning C.

Again, good luck,

--
Sean

[Ben Pope]

Mantorok wrote:

Hi all

I'm looking to learn C and/or C++ and I was wondering if there were any good
on-line resources and books.

I am currently a C# developer but I'm keen to discover C/C++ as I feel it
would be a benficial experience.

Firstly... pick a language, if you want to program on platforms for which there is a C++ compiler readily available, I would recommend C++ over C it in most cases.

Right. Now we have that sorted.

Get "Accelerated C++" by Koenig and Moo. Just do it, don't ask any questions. It teaches you how to program C++, it doesn't teach you C, you will not need C, it will get you
writing useful, productive and safe C++ programs quickly. What it teaches you to do may not be groundbreaking for you, but the way it teaches to solve the problem is fundamental.

If you start learning C first, you will undermine the principles of safe C++ coding. Yes, it will teach you the low-level intricacies of things, and how you do things "the hard
way", but if you want to learn C++, learn C++.

You'll be more productive because:

a) You won't have to read a single C book, saving lots of time.
b) You won't have to learn how to do the same things the C++ way afterwards.
c) You won't have to unlearn all the things that will get you into trouble.

The standard library for C++ can much of the C stuff in a much safer way.

Other books that are useful:
"The C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Stroustrup.

"Effective C++" by Scott Meyers (How to write Classes properly)
"Effective STL" by Scott Meyers (How to use the STL properly)
"Modern C++ Design" by Andrei Alexandrescu (Agreat example of Generic programming with Templates, but quite heavy).

I also have:
"Design Patterns" by Gang of Four. This is a more abstract look at how to solve common problems in OO programming, examples in C++.

Hmm, I think thats all of the books I have, and they're all great; in terms of content and writing style.

Ben
--
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